Facebook’s Data Breach is a Lesson for Every Company Handling Data

Facebook’s recent data breach goes to show how much of an impact user confidence and data security can have on any brand, with CEO Mark Zuckerburg’s net worth fluctuating by a massive $15 billion following the discover of the Cambridge Analytica breach, Bloomberg said.

In our infographic earlier this year, we touched on the harrowing effects that a data breach can have on brand image of both B2B and B2C companies, and with over 77% of B2B marketers saying brand image is critical to solid growth, there is no room for error.

With brand image being something that takes a great amount of time and money to establish, businesses cannot take risks when it comes to their brand image, as one breach or even just a threat could seriously damage it in minutes.

This was further proven on Tuesday, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg defended his company’s role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which led to over 58 million users’ personal online habits and information being leaked to influence elections globally.

Not only did Zuckerburg see Facebook stocks drop drastically since the discovery of the scandal, but this is not his biggest worry, with celebrities and their followers taking to social media to vent their anger in the form of the “Delete Facebook” campaign, which has had mass followings from the likes of Elon Musk, who deleted all of his company accounts; and even singer Cher, who also chose the step away from the social media pioneer.

These instances of data handling giants being the victims of data breaches should be more than enough to influence any business to take action and optimise their security efforts, with such aftershocks being enough to have a massive effect on even the most established household brands.

With recent GDPR updates, businesses across Europe have already been forced to make improvements to their data privacy efforts, but with instances such as this, ensuring premium data privacy means more than ever to both businesses, and the public.